Fuel Acid Drives Base Catalysis and Supramolecular Cage-to-Device Transformation under Dissipative Conditions

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.1c03654
• Publication Date: 2021-12-16T14:47:21Z
• Authors: Debabrata Mondal; Amit Ghosh; Indrajit Paul; Michael Schmittel
• Keywords: DABCO; Base (topology)

In State-I, a mixture comprising DABCO-bridged tris(zinc-porphyrin) double decker and free biped (=slider), catalysis was OFF. Acid addition (TFA or Di-Stefano fuel acid) to State-I liberated DABCO-H+ while generating highly dynamic slider-on-deck device (State-II). The released acted as base organocatalyst for Knoevenagel reaction (catalysis ON). system reversed OFF) by reducing the acidity in (by adding DBU via fuel-derived base).